Bramham Park

[
facade. A carriage ramp conveys visitors to the principal entrance on the piano nobile]

Bramham Park is a country house between Leeds and Wetherby, West Yorkshire, England. The Baroque mansion was built in 1698 by Robert Benson, 1st Baron Bingley. It has remained in the ownership of Benson's descendents since its completion in 1710 [ Campbell] . The house is surrounded by a landscaped park ornamented by a series of follies and avenues laid out in the 18th century landscape tradition. Following a fire in 1828 the house was derilict for 80 years until restored under the supervision of the architect Detmar Blow circa 1908.

Today it remains a private residence, while the park is the setting for the annual Bramham Horse Trials and Leeds Festival.

Architecture

[
Chatsworth House, England's 1st truly Baroque House was built between 1687 and 1707 an almost exact contemporary of Bramham was designed by William Talman. Colen Campbell's drawings of Bramham of 1717 show a remarkable similarity of style between the "corps de logis" of Bramham and Chatsworth.]

[
Colen Campbell in 1717. The statuary decorating the roofscape was never executed. The carriage ramp is an unusual feature, leading to the piano nobile.]

Like many 18th century mansions and parks Bramham is a product of a grand tour, its creator Robert Benson, later Lord Bingley, completed his formal education with a grand tour in 1697, and it was in Italy that he began to envisage his new mansion in the Palladian manner complemented in a landscaped park in the fashion made popular by Le Nôtre in France in the late 17th century.

The architect of Bramham is unknown, it's speculated that Giacomo Leoni was involved [Bramham Park] (Leoni was responsible for the rebuilding of Lyme Park in an Italianate style in the neighbouring county of Cheshire some years later). However, the Italian, Leoni did not arrive in England until several years after the completion of Bramham. Other names suggested include James Gibbs, Thomas Archer and James Paine. Gibbs is not a serious possibility as he would have been only 15 years old when the house was begun. While it is known that Paine designed the stables which flank the "corps de logis", he couldn't have been responsible for the main part of the house as he was born in 1717, another contender John Wood is also too young. The only chronological possibility is Thomas Archer (1668–1743) [The possible architects are suggested in "Tour of the House" published by Bramham Estate, the reasons why they are discounted here is widely known and accepted factual information from numerous sources] . However, the most likely scenario is that Bramham is the work Robert Benson himself [This theory is forwarded in Bramham Park] , probably working with a local draughtsman. While it is also quite possible that Benson was inspired by drawings taken from Palladio's books, the design of the house suggest Benson was more inspired by the restrained Baroque style then populat in France. The style in which Mansart's Versailles has been constructed between 1678 and 1684, indeed it has been speculated that Versaille's landscape architect André le Nôtre had a hand in the design of Bramham's landscaped park [Bramham Park] .

The architect William Talman has also been suggested as a possible architect [forget - where did I read this!] , he was indeed working on Chatsworth House some thirty miles away from Bramham at this time. Chatsworth is considered to be England's first truly Baroque house. However unlike Chatsworth (which is far larger) Bramham is given flanking wings more in the Palladian style, linked to the house by short collonades. The flanking wings contained the kitchen in the south wing, and the chapel in the north, thus as at the baroque Blenheim Palace balancing both spiritual and bodily needs equally. However, while Campbell's drawing of Bramham show the never executed statuary on the roof and near perfect proportions, the reality of the executed design suggests a less professional hand then Talman's. Two low projecting wings from the "corps de logis" complicate the design, while the two colonnades are not quite long enough to give the flanking wings the independence from the main house to allow their design to be fully appreciated.

Interior

The interior of Bramham Park was completely restored in the early part of the 20th century. The central Great Hall, double storey in height and severe in its Baroque design still bears the smoke staining on its stone walls.

Bramham in the 21st century

Its grounds (over convert|400|acre|km2 in total) are used for various events, including the Leeds Festival, and the Bramham Horse Trials. A more restricted area of the grounds are kept as gardens and run as a tourist attraction — visitors can also tour the house but only in pre-arranged parties.

Notes

References

*cite book
last = Girouard
first = Mark
authorlink = Mark Girouard
year = 1978
title = Life in the English Country House
publisher = Yale University Press
location =
id = ISBN 0-300-02273-5

*cite book
last =
first =
year =
title = Bramham Park
publisher = Bramham Park, Estate Office
location = Yorkshire
id = No author is credited, pages are not numbered

*cite book
last = Pevsner
first = Nikolaus
year = 1967
title = Yorkshire: The West Riding.
publisher = Penguin
location =
id = ISBN N/A

External links

* [http://www.bramhampark.co.uk/ Official website]